More than 300 Indonesians were arrested in 2017 for alleged LGBT-associated behavior, and countless others were intimidated and harassed. Already, several have been convicted under the Pornography Law and sent to prison. Andreas Harsono will explore whether this trend is related to the rise of Islamic populism and more sharia-inspired regulations in Indonesia. He also will ask what the Joko Widodo government is doing to stop this discrimination.

Andreas Harsono has been the senior Indonesian researcher for Human Rights Watch since 2008. He has also had a long career as a journalist and he has written several books about Indonesia. His next book is Islam, Race and Power: Democratization and Violence in post-Suharto Indonesia.